In their nearly seven-year existence, the Nationals have swept only a pair of four-game road series: the season-ending Oct. 1-4, 2009 series in Atlanta and last week's series in New York. With a win tonight, they would do it again, this time at a most unlikely site: Citizens Bank Park.

In order to pull this one off, the Nats will need a solid outing from rookie Brad Peacock (making his second career start) and some timely hits against Roy Oswalt, who has struggled against this franchise in the past and has battled through an up-and-down season himself.

Couple of notable absences from the Nationals' lineup. Jayson Werth is sitting out his second straight game after getting hit in the right elbow with a throw. Roger Bernadina is again in right field. And Chris Marrero, who had started 22 consecutive games at first base, gets a night off. Laynce Nix will get some rare playing time in the infield.

Enlighten– the only reason I can think of is they are Seriously trying to get Morse used to LF and it would be an adjustment and then a re-adjustment to go back and forth. In other words, the more reps Morse has in LF, the better, even if we don't have the exact best alignment for this particular game.

I read all the posts of the day and watched Mark's Video. Interesting stuff.1) So glad Mark Z. said it clearly on Prince Fielder. No chance. People here get on a tangent and run wild. Now it is Matt Kemp. Laughable. Last week it was BJ Upton. Ten months before that they were ready to trade away Jordan Zimmerman, Drew Storen and Danny Espinosa for Zach Greinke. One man can make a difference however won't change a loser to a winner on his own.2) When proposing a trade, I don't think you trade more if you can subsequently work out an extension. You have to propose a trade on the current deal. BJ Upton and Matt Kemp are Free Agents after next season currently.3) OldGuy, good points. This team needs very little tweaking.

With Vance Worley and Kyle Kendricks pitching well, Phils may decline Oswalt's option for next year. If he is healthy, he could be a good pick up for the rotation. He is getting old, but I have always liked him. JZimm reminds me of a young Roy.

The Philadelphia newspapers have a story and chart today about the "Phillies Killers of the Year." No, it's not a crime report. It is about which players have done in the Phillies the most in 2011. You will notice some familiar names at the top of the list. :-)http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/The-2011-Phillies-Killers.html

Danny has gotten most of the praise for us when talking rookies, but Ra-moose has put up arguably a better season. 3.1 WAR in 420 PAs (Ramos) v. 3.7 in 630 PAs (Espy). So Wilson has had over 200 less PAs.It is nice to not have to choose between the two, and no knock on Danny. Just that Wilson's season seems to be getting lost in the shuffle.

I thought he was the RAM. Ramos has tremendous upside. Glad Wally pointed that out. I am an OPS lover, Ramos is 3rd on the Nats at .777 only behind some guys named Beast & Zim. 3rd in OBP now and ahead of Werth.As I researched this, I was surprised that Bernadina is now 6th in OBP on the team.

Here is a earlier post about the Buffalo. PAY TO PLAY said… Ramos has quietly moved his OBP into the mid-.330's and his BA to almost .270. He has also flourished in the 8 hole which is dead space on many NL teams. He will maybe play 4 more games this season based on the Pudge and JayFlo schedule so this will be close to his final slash line. Absolutely one of the bright spots over the season including his great defense. September 22, 2011 10:27 AM

I liked the point Mark made regarding pitching depth for next season, and I hope Rizzo wins this argument over DJ. I'd rather see the Nats stash the not-quite ready starters in SYR in a five-man rotation than keep one or two of them with the big club in spot-starter/long relief roles. Stretch them out & get them regular innings – It will serve both the pitcher & the orginization better in the long run.

Gonat said… Keeping track of the race for 3rd place said… Cards up 6-2 on Mets in the 8th… fwiw — I'm rooting for the Cards in that game for a different reason. I don't care so much about the Nats finishing 3rd or not. But if the Cards win, the pressure will be on Atlanta, and I want to see how our young 'uns do against a Braves team that's still in the hunt and needs to win. (Side bonus — if the games matter, than rainouts will have to be made up).

fwiw, Cardinals now losing 6-8 heading into the bottom of the 9th. The Cardinals magic may have run out. A leadoff walk, an error, another walk, double, bloop, etc. Willie Harris with the go ahead RBI single.

On Ramos's nickname, I just made it up. Seemed to flow from his name, not trying to create a new one for him. Although, not necessarily a big fan of Buffalo.Braves v. Cards? Have to admit I am pulling for the Braves. If it isn't going to be us, I guess I root for our division. Plus I can't stand TLR. Oswalt doesn't throw that hard, but the ball really seems to pop out of his hand.

A DC Wonk said… Gonat said…Keeping track of the race for 3rd place said…Cards up 6-2 on Mets in the 8th… fwiw — I'm rooting for the Cards in that game for a different reason. I don't care so much about the Nats finishing 3rd or not. But if the Cards win, the pressure will be on Atlanta, and I want to see how our young 'uns do against a Braves team that's still in the hunt and needs to win. (Side bonus — if the games matter, than rainouts will have to be made up). September 22, 2011 7:01 PM ______________________________If you did ANY RESEARCH at all you would know that with a 2 game lead in the Wild Card as of right now, the Friday and Saturday night games matter to the Braves as their Magic number is 6 games. Most likely all the games will matter.Why do you feel you have to spoil the party for some of us who are sick of losing and 3rd place sounds better to most of us than 3rd.Sometimes I think you are just the complaining type.

All six outs for Peacock have been in the air. 4 flyouts, and 2 pop outs.Seems to be sitting 90-91.Ankiel has been a good signing. I was negative on it at the time, because I thought Bernadina offered the same skills at less cost, with some chance for higher upside. But the guy has earned his keep. I wouldn't mind seeing him come back as the 4th OF.

If you did ANY RESEARCH at all you would know that with a 2 game lead in the Wild Card as of right now, the Friday and Saturday night games matter to the Braves as their Magic number is 6 games. Most likely all the games will matter.Why do you feel you have to spoil the party for some of us who are sick of losing and 3rd place sounds better to most of us than 3rd.Sometimes I think you are just the complaining type. I wasn't complaining at all! Folks talking about rooting for the Cards, and I said that I was, also, and added another reason to root for them.Yes — most likely all their games matter, but if the Cards had one, there'd be even more pressure on the Braves.Lighten up . . . I was joining in the fun, not complaining.Sheesh.

Feeling torn about the wild card race. Hate the cards,(agreed with you Wally), but want the Mets to stay behind us. Last game of their series, though, so it won't matter after tonight. Ecstatically happy about our lead in this game!!!!!!!!! Ramos' ab might be a key factor later as it seemed to tire Oswalt and frustrate him. He has a bad back – they are not going to push him onto the dl in a game they don't have to win when they need him for the post season. I hope the rest of the hitters start pushing him, too.

gonat, for what little it's worth, I didn't get "complaining" out of that. and with all due respect to FP, who played places in I have to pay to get in and has forgotten more baseball than I know, I don't think the Phillies are one of the teams that gets down on themselves. "Culture of Winning" and all that.

Spring training is 5 months away, and it already looks to be a pretty exciting competition for the starting rotation.Actually, it would not surprise me if the calculation is made simpler before then by a trade involving one of the Nats' good young arms.

An observation / opinion on the Phillies. Since the've already punched their ticket into the playoffs, I think Manuel may be evaluating his final starting slot for the playoffs. Oswalt may have the inside track for the #4 (behind Halliday/Lee/Hamels) due to experience, but it's not guaranteed. Worley & possibly Kendrick could steal it with a good finish, with the losers moving to the bullpen (that needs help).

You know what I love about Milone and Strasburg — they don't play around, they pound the zone. They throw strikes. Between them they have 30 innings and only three walks.Looks like Peacock is doing that tonight, too. (He had 2.9BB/9 IP in the minors this year).That fifth inning of his was great — good fastball, nice curve (although I think he got away with a hanger), and a good change-up, too.Ya gotta love seeing him putting them down like that the second time through the order.

Is Carp serious, lint flying from the "terrible towels" makes it hard to breathe? Been to a playoff and World Series game, never bothered me. How about young Peacock, his parents have got to be excited.

Carpenter implied the Philly fans don't do their laundry, and the towels stink. Pretty good shot, actually. And Peacock lost the strike zone all of a sudden, and Davey got tired of watching it (and didn't want to let him risk an L).

Well . . . the good thing about that inning is that Oswalt was on his feet for like 15 minutes when he could have been resting between innings. (Now, that's _really_ stretching to find a ray of sunshine, eh? ;-)But, bottom line: still just one hit, no runs, for Phils after six. (and, RickH, thanks)

Another question: Carp and FP were making a big deal out of the fact that the Nats are 55-22 this season when scoring first, for a .714 win percentage.My first thought was: is that good? How does it compare to other teams?Anyone know?

Michele — It was about taking care of Peacock's psyche. Any frustration from taking him out without letting him work out of his own self-created jam is far outweighed by what Peacock would take from a win and, over the winter, the memory of a masterful game — this is a good lineup and they got one cheap infield single in 5 2/3? — pitched in a tough hitters' park. Why put the weight of a potential blown lead and maybe sweep of a former nemesis — and win over 18 games of a season series — on Abu credibly promising young talent?

How'bout that Ryan Mattheus? Guy's a keeper.Yeah — no kidding. He's out for weeks, and his very first pitch is a wicked front door curve for a called strike? (And gets the two outs he needs on three pitches?) Really nice — welcome back!

Correction (or, rather, amplification):Rollins and Victorino and Utley all went 0-for-the-entire-series!!(And, hey, did you get a load of Davey responding to a rain of boos by applauding and laughing at the Phillie fans?)So — eight straight and Strasburg going tomorrow?

FP said it best: "It's a new era." I have been following this game since the 40s and I will say again what I have been saying for the last couple of years. This team has been better than its record for some time.

I now begin to believe that I might in fact find some people to share those two seats I just bought a half-season ticket for in section 220 (in addition to the full season I own with some partners in 313).

Boo for Charlie Manuel. He should have take Oswalt out so Clip could have his hold and Storen his save. Seriously, why does the manager go out and discuss it with the pitcher– is Roy gonna say, "Take me out, boss, I'm whipped?" Davey's way is better, you decide what you are doing and if you come out so is the pitcher.Fillies fans are fools, Davey is not trying to rub it in their faces, he is taking Slaten out because he succeeded (!) with the lefties and now he doesn't want him to fail.(Fireworks are because it's the last Fillies home game. At least for the season. We can only wish they won't play too many more in the postseason…)

I think I just heard Davey say something about the Phillies fans waving the white flags. I think he was talking about Peacock maybe getting a bit distracted by the towels, but I like the notion of their waving the white flag late in a Nats game.

Yeaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! That was awesome, although I did worry about Davey angering the baseball gods. Heard the first three innings on the radio, driving home from an appointment. LOL'd at Charlie and Dave's laundry commentary. Saw the last three innings at home. Loved when Morse hit the dinger and all of the rally flags stopped and dropped at once. I rewound and watched it a few times. :-)Re. this weekend, will be there Saturday and Sunday.Here you go, NatsLady. Enjoy!http://www.thegoodphight.com/

This is looking really bad for the fans like me, who usually buy the cheap tickets and then move down after the 3rd or 4th inning to better unoccupied seats. The way things are going, next year I may actually have to pay the price of those good seats. Oh, the horror!! ;-)Six more games — let's get five more wins!!

You can say all you want about playing the Phillies B team, their A fans were in the seats and had to watch us embarrass their team. Priceless. I hope it leaves a lasting bad taste in their mouths.I swear I say Davet smiling when he walked out to yank Slaton.

Nats1924 said…we'll see tonight if Peacock is legit or not.Go W's!!!!!……Well, I'd say he is Legit.Natsoutsider, it'll cost you cash, but won't it be great when the seats get sold because people are excited? I can't believe this is over in a week! Arch! I can't think about it.How much do I love Michael Morse? And all of the Nats (even Doug Slaten, though I hope not to see him on our mound again).Such a nice game! See some of you this weekend. Michelle S… How will I know you and your pup?

First of all – these baby pitchers are just so sincere – their interviews are refreshing and not full of cliches.The Phillies should be ashamed ( especially the aforementioned big three hitters),at being schooled by basically three AAA pitchers.Pitchers who are fighting to stay in the bigs – a powerful motivation. Our farm system on display! One minor thing I noticed tonight – Ryan Zimmerman rarely shows much emotion either way. After Morse's HR (still giddy, by the way), he was beating him on the head and almost giggling. After the game he had a huge smile. It was nice to see him let go and enjoy it – he was not all that productive, but he didn't care about that. 10-8 against the phils this year – so nice. Maybe their fans will start to think twice about spending all of their cash to come down here and get embarassed. After all, that money they are spending pays Danny Espinosa, who they hate. I think Danny is the type of player who will enjoy that in the coming years.

A DC Wonk said… I don't care so much about the Nats finishing 3rd or not.What does that statement mean? Can someone explain that? Seems clear to me that Wonk doesn't think it matters if the Nats finish in 3rd place this year as there are other priorities.By the way, the Nats magic number to 3rd place is 4 games.

Gonat said… A DC Wonk said… I don't care so much about the Nats finishing 3rd or not. What does that statement mean? Can someone explain that? It means (or, rather, I meant) I want the Nats to play well against tough motivated competition (i.e., Braves), and that's more important to me than whether back into 3rd place because the Mets are losing. Perhaps I should have written it as "don't care as as much as" — but in any event, I didn't write "don't care at all."I'm not sure what the point of your post is. Your understanding of my post was not my intent — which might be because you misunderstood, or because I wasn't clear enough, or, more likely, both.No biggie. Just a misunderstanding. I just wanted to clear up that I wasn't complaining — my intent was to give _my_ main reason for wanting the Cards to beat the Mets, and, perhaps, to give others an additional reason.All we have to do is not assume negative motivations here. Let's give each other the benefit of the doubt in this imperfect medium, ok?

To: Mr. Ivan RodriguezFrom: A Grateful Nationals FanSir, thank you very much for being part of our team. I hope you understand why we have to go forward without you… Thanks for supporting our pitchers, thanks for teaching our catchers… Thanks for all the joy, the smiles.Good luck going for 3,000 hits. Some team will be GLAD to have that arm for nailing base-stealers! Whether or not you get the hits, never mind, you are a hero to us. Come back when you can, you will be a wonderful coach.

Just back from back-to-school-night and thus missed the end of the game. Great win. I see some queries about "why fireworks?" Forgive me if someone already answered this, but the Nats' four-game sweep represented the Phillies' last four home games of the year and I'm sure the fireworks were preplanned. Now, of course, the Phillies will get some home games in the playoffs, but isn't it sweet — oh, so sweet — to have taken their last four scheduled home games away from them? Well done.

I was listening to Dan Steinberg as a special guest on 106.7 and he was talking about the 1st ever Washington Post survey to DC area residents on local sports.The discussion turned to the Nationals as they discussed the Nationals have never had a winning season which is true.There was some chuckling and very little respect and the discussion was back to the Redskins. Lavar Arrington actually confused Ted Lerner with Peter Angelos. What a joke.The Nats best finish was 2007 was 4th place, every other year has been last place. 3rd place means a lot to me personally and almost any way you get there is fine with me. It would be great for the Nats to start to gain respect from the local sports radio guys and some real relevance locally. How do you do that? Turn around the culture of LOSING.

Eugene – I did not realize that – I thought the Braves were going there after us. That is waaay cool. Not so cool – I am so jacked up that I cannot sleep. Tomorrow morning ( almost this morning) is not going to be pretty. I just loved the quiet fans, hastily heading for the exits…. Utley, Victorino,Rollins making the long walk back to the dugout…. this is not helping me calm down.

Sec 3, My Sofa said… Gonat, I understand, but really, almost nobody cares what sports talk radio guys think or do. They really are irrelevant.True — but is _is_ grating when, e.g., on Wednesday, driving to work, pumped up about the Nats double-header sweep of the Phils, listening to WTOP, and hearing the sports lead off with "Redskins resume practice today …"Unfortunately, it's just going to be that way, and will stay that way, until the Nats make the playoffs, no matter how long it takes.(And, while I don't think it's likely to happen in 2012, I also don't think it's out of the question).

baseballswami,The Phillies travel to Atlanta for the final three games of the season. Between now and then, the Phillies have three games in New York against the Mets.Get some well-deserved sleep (all of you).

I suppose that if I had some respect for them, I might give a rat's patoot what the local sports radio guys think about that Nats. But I don't, so, um, I don't.Gonat said:It would be great for the Nats to start to gain respect from the local sports radio guys and some real relevance locally.

There are a million drones in this area that do pay attention to sports talk radio. Every yer they think this is the Redskins year, maybe the Wizards can really be good, and U-MD basketball has a real shot.They ignore, mis-represent and under-report sports they don't understand, and our guys don't understand baseball and hockey and NASCAR. So they do contribute to the generally held notion that the Nats ain't much good are ain't nothing to get excited about. The Yankees, now that's a baseball team. They don't care what it costs. They know how to build a winner.